<p>Super anxious here…though D has heard back from all her schools (8/8!). what stresses me now, is 1) waiting for the financial aid packages and 2) not knowing how D is ever going to make this choice. Every time I try to talk to her about the decision process i.e. what info she needs etc, she gets in a tizzy and tells me she will figure it out! I am very process oriented and would be making charts etc. D is more “holistic” in her approach and it is driving me crazy! I really want her to have her choice made before she leaves for spring break in April!</p>
<p>TheGFG, we must be on the same tour in the Mythical Land of Summer Jobs. D has decided she wants a summer job as a nanny and apparently I should find it for her. She won’t be home on spring break to look for a job, because she’s going on an alternative spring break service trip - on our tab of course (it was her Christmas present).</p>
<p>Meanwhile S is graduating from college in May, and to my knowledge has zero job interviews lined up in the near future - or the far future. What he DOES have lined up is a 3 week trip to Europe with his 5 best friends, which costs more money than he has. So we’re apparently lending him the money. </p>
<p>This too shall pass…</p>
<p>I seem to be in the minority because I’m not stressed. My D is super responsible and self motivated. She never asked for my help or advice during the entire college application process. After reading most of the other posts, it appears that my husband and I are very laid back when it comes to the whole college application process. My D has been posting on this web site for over a year. The first time I even visited CC was a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>So far, our D has been accepted at 3 of the 4 colleges she applied to. That’s right! She only applied to 4 colleges. The fourth college is her reach school and we won’t hear from them until April.</p>
<p>She has been offered a partial merit scholarship at her #1 choice. She received an invitation to be interviewed for a merit scholarship at the same college, which will be in about a week from now. It will be wonderful if she gets the scholarship, but we can still afford to send her to any of the 4 schools she applied to. Two are in-state universities, one is an OOS university, and her reach school is an OOS private university.</p>
<p>Money is not a concern because we started saving for her college education as soon as she was born. She’s an only child. I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for the past 18 years. So, we’ve been living off one income (my husband is a school principal). I highly recommend that every parent begin saving for their child’s college as early as possible. I have no pity for a very successful lawyer in our neighborhood who says he can’t afford to send his son to college.</p>
<p>My stress will come later this summer as the time nears for her to leave for college.</p>
<p>Senior Year 2007-2008 is forever etched in my mind…and not in a good way! Fast forward to today and things could not have worked out better (glad he didn’t get accepted to uber selective private school- now- due to cost vs state of economy) . The whole process of apply to school and having the little devil make sure you WANTED him to go ASAP was very painful. Not something I have forgotten yet. One of the few things that just won’t fade away like most things these days.</p>
<p>Advice? Nothing you can do about it- you will try, you will drink a bit of wine, your extended family will think you have lost it, you will wonder how you mentally “crossed” the line to insanity without noticing. Very few families are ecstatic come April- but many are after the freshman year at the chosen Uni. Hang in there.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of those that have “been there” and survived/thrived. Nice to hear; will be nicer to see for myself. I can’t wait. But must admit that the stress factor has ratchetted (is that the word?) down here. We are pretty much not talking about it until last three colleges are heard from (only 2 of which are actual contenders) and we get FA packages. Don’t think my D is even thinking about it, so I am trying to do the same. Her current 1st choice, will be…fine…and is certainly affordable. Just going to let go of the coulda/shoulda’s.</p>
<p>Count me in here. I began feeling that underlying anxiety just in the last few days. My S is lucky because he’s already been accepted to some great schools, but was deferred ED to his top choice. I know that I’m anxious because I’d like for him to get in. But I’m also worried that if he doesn’t, he’ll have a hard time choosing among those that do accept him and not a lot of time to visit and ponder. He doesn’t want to discuss college choices/decision now b/c he hasn’t heard from most of his schools. If the ED school doesn’t ultimately come through, I hope he can sort through the pros/cons of his other options in a month. For all I know, perhaps he’s already given this some attention but simply won’t discuss it with us.</p>
<p>“After reading most of the other posts, it appears that my husband and I are very laid back when it comes to the whole college application process.” </p>
<p>You are probably more typical in the average situation with bright students. My thought is that many of us joined CC because our kids didn’t seem to be making enough traction on their own. So we started researching…</p>
<p>I am stressed, but not where she will get in and can we afford it, but stressed thinking about which school is going to pick. She is my only child and the time flew by so fast. Just the thought that in 6 months or so she may never live in the house again has me very stressed and a bit blue.</p>
<p>umdclassof80: We also have been saving since our children were born, but apparently whatever you did with your money turned out better than our choices. In the fall of 2008 we felt pretty confident about our ability to pay for college. The spreadsheet of those investments is not a pretty site now. That stresses me out.</p>
<p>Our son applied to only three schools. He has been accepted at two–both in Honors College with merit aid. The third is a huge longshot for everyone–from an acceptance percentage and a financial standpoint. I believe that he understands that completely, but if he gets in, what will he really think and feel?</p>
<p>What stresses me is looking at the AP and IB test schedule for May. In reality, our son really only has March and April left of “real” school. He has a test nearly every day in May up to the 18 which is supposed to be the last day of school. (Snow days may change that.)</p>
<p>olderwisermom – I’m with you. Many people thought they’d done everything right to ensure a good education for their kids. They worked, they sacrificed, they saved. Who would have guessed the economy would tank a mere two years before their kid’s h.s. graduation. 401K plans were decimated. People lost good jobs and found themselves living on their savings. It hit the workers in their 50’s (prime age to have a kid entering college) especially hard. A lot of dreams died or went from being healthy to being on life-support. </p>
<p>The good news is that our kids are actually quite resilient. So they can’t go to their dream schools because they are now financially out of reach. But they can – and undoubtedly will – thrive at the schools they and we can afford. I’m just glad they don’t have to enter the job market just yet!</p>
<p>^Good decisions, as success depends much more on kids than school that they attend. D. is graduating from state school where she has been on full tuition Merit scholarhips (could have gone to Ivy, although she has never expressed any desire to do so) and has been accepted to few top Med. Schools. Her success is purely result of her hard work and nothing else. Please, do not stress out if they did not get or could not afford their #1 choice. D. went to her #2 and did just fine and had great experiences that she did not even dream of having while at college. We pray every day to continue having jobs to support her thru next 4 years. Best wishes to all kids no matter where they will be next year!</p>
<p>Yes! Count me in, too! Totally stressed out here trying to figure out the FAFSA. The colleges my D’s applied to want it by March 1st. Aaaargh! Also feeling some sadness because she is our youngest and we will be empty nesters next year.</p>
<p>I’m not stressed about my HS senior. She was accepted ED in December and has been coasting since then. I am stressed about my older daughter who is a junior in college. She is applying for summer internships and will be applying for jobs in the fall. She has a vague idea of what she wants to do so we’ll see how things shake out.</p>
<p>Stress level just dropped – two spots on H’s lung are apparently not metastatic cancer (he was diagnosed with Stage IV head and neck cancer years ago and we always worry it will come back). Big sigh of relief.</p>
<p>Classof2015 – Oh, thank heaven.</p>
<p>^Thanks – yes – amen.</p>
<p>Wow- Classof2015- does that put everything else in perspective. How wonderful.</p>
<p>Classof2015, that is marvelous news!</p>
<p>Classof2015, that is wonderful news! That really does put everything else in perspective.</p>
<p>Classof2015 - great news! Funny, how college decisions and everything else tend to pale when something like that is in play!</p>